After Transferring to UCI, Flowers Blooms
Jason Flowers, the best player a UC Irvine scholarship didn’t buy, was carrying the offense again. With five minutes left, he took it upon himself to lead the Anteaters past Division II Sonoma State.
First, he slipped past a defender for a layup. A minute later, he wiggled free and hit a leaning jump shot from the free-throw line. Irvine had a 45-39 lead and some breathing room.
“I sensed if I scored right there, we would kind of put the game away,” Flowers said. “I felt the situation was right for me.”
Not the type of talk, or action, that generally comes from a walk-on. But Flowers isn’t your typical just-glad-to-be-in-uniform guy.
The Anteaters appear to have a player who can penetrate and create opportunities, a rarity on their roster. Flowers, a 6-foot-1 freshman, had 14 points and four assists against Sonoma State. It followed his 10-point, five-rebound, two-assist game at Nevada Las Vegas.
Not bad for a guy who was first told thanks but no thanks by Irvine Coach Pat Douglass.
Flowers had two solid seasons at Bellflower High School and spent a couple of weeks last season practicing with UCLA, where he was pushed around by Cameron Dollar--then a Bruin player, now an Irvine assistant and Flowers’ mentor.
Douglass, though, was inundated with inquiries from players who smelled opportunity with a team coming off a 1-25 season. Still, Flowers was eager for a tryout, with a little prodding.
“My high school coach suggested I go talk with the Irvine coaches,” Flowers said. “He even sent them a videotape of me from high school. Coach Douglass wasn’t impressed. He said to go to UC Riverside and that was fine with me.”
But John Downum, Flowers’ high school coach, kept pushing. Last spring, he suggested Flowers play some pick-up games with Anteater players.
“We knew we needed a point guard and Jason looked better than what we had at the time,” Anteater guard Juma Jackson said.
Jackson passed a scouting report on to Douglass, who re-investigated.
Flowers was no longer that high school player Douglass saw on tape. He was bigger, having put on 20 pounds, and more mature. Douglass learned Flowers was 16 when he entered UCLA.
“I was advanced to kindergarten from preschool,” said Flowers, now 18. “I was doing work that first- and second-grade kids were doing when I was 4, like reading and math.”
Eventually there was a price for such intelligence. That extra year of growth and experience would have been nice when he attempted to walk on with the Bruins last year.
“I was 160 pounds on a good day,” Flowers said. “I had to guard Cameron every day in practice. He really put it to me. I decided I wasn’t ready to play.”
He seems ready now.
Flowers played a total of 18 minutes in the first five games, then was thrust into a desperate situation Dec. 13 against San Diego State.
Lamarr Parker had picked up his fifth foul with 53 seconds left to play--the fourth Irvine player to foul out--and Flowers was sent in. He scooped up a loose ball in the corner with time running out and San Diego State leading by three. There was no fairy-tale ending. His three-point attempt with four seconds left bounced off the rim.
Still, it couldn’t have done more for him if it gone in.
“Coach Douglass kept making comments all next week in practice about how he liked how I responded in that situation,” said Flowers, who has averaged nine points since the San Diego State game. “My confidence really grew. I wasn’t worried about this or that situation. I went out and just played.”
Which is all he ever wanted to do.
“I’m happier saying I’m playing at UC Irvine than just being on a team at UCLA,” Flowers said.
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Flowers was certainly excited about playing at Las Vegas two weeks ago.
“I grew up a UNLV fan and during the shoot-around I was going up to guys and saying, ‘I never thought this was possible,’ ” Flowers said. “It was something to see Larry Johnson’s and Stacey Augmon’s jerseys hanging there. I loved the way they played, the way they dominated teams.
“We don’t have a Larry Johnson or Stacey Augmon, but we’ll get there.”
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Irvine begins Big West Conference play Thursday at North Texas and, if you’re rebuilding a program, there may be no better place than the conference’s Western Division. As difficult as the season has been, there are three reasons the Anteaters might qualify for the conference tournament.
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is ineligible for the tournament, meaning Irvine has to beat out only one team to qualify. Long Beach State has wobbled through its nonconference schedule and there is mutiny in the air at UC Santa Barbara. Both could be vulnerable.
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Irvine’s golf coach is playing golf again.
Jeff Johnston hit some drives Friday, the first time he has swung a club since February, when he suffered a broken right hand while playing basketball with some of his golfers.
“I did a flying, windmill, tomahawk, reverse dunk and caught my lower hand on the rim on the way down,” Johnston said.
In the real world, Johnston couldn’t handle a bounce pass and the ball bent back the fingers on his hand.
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Coming Attractions
Key games for UC Irvine this week:
* Men’s volleyball team hosts California, a club team, at 7 tonight in Crawford Hall and competes in the UC Santa Barbara tournament Friday and Saturday.
* Men’s basketball team plays Thursday at North Texas and Saturday at New Mexico State.
* Women’s basketball team plays North Texas at 7 p.m. Friday and New Mexico State at 2 p.m. Sunday. Both games are in the Bren Center.
* Women’s swim team faces Pepperdine and San Jose State at 3 p.m. Friday in a tri-meet at Pepperdine and hosts Fresno State at noon Saturday.
* Men’s tennis team opens its season at home against St. Mary’s at noon Sunday.
